First make the crust. Sift the flour and baking powder onto parchment paper. In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the oil, sugar and vanilla, and blend at medium speed. One at a time, add the eggs, incorporating the first before the adding the second, and blend. Add the orange juice, if using and blend. Reduce the speed and add the flour mixture, gradually to make a dough.

Divide the dough into 2 parts and flatten each to make a disk. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap, stack the discs on a plate, and refrigerate until the stiff enough to work easily, at least 2 hours.

Meanwhile make the filling(s). For the poppy, raspberry-and/or apricot fillings, combine the ingredients in small bowls, stir to blend, and refrigerate for 1 hour. For the chocolate combine the ingredients in a small bowl. Transfer half the filling to the centerof an 18 inch piece of plastic wrap, fold the wrap over the filling to enclose it, and squeeze the mixture to create a log 1-inch in diameter. Repeat with the remaining filling and freeze the logs.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Flour a work surface well and roll 1 of the discs out on it. Using a 3-inch glass or round cookie cutter, cut out rounds. Pipe about 1 tablespoon of the poppy seed, raspberry and/or apricot filling(s) in the center of each round, wet the edges with water and bring up the dough together to seal. Alternatively, drop the filling onto the dough by heaping tablespoons. For the chocolate filling, cut the frozen logs onto 1/2 inch discs. Fill the rounds by placing a disc in the center of each form and seal.

Transfer the hamentashen to 1 or more cookie sheets and bake, in batches if necessary, until pale gold 12 or 14 minutes. Transfer to a rack and cool.

I never outgrew my sweet tooth, though there are some pastries which I prefer above all others. Given a choice, I’ll take a Napoleon over almost anything else. In Australia and England they call it vanilla slice, in Italy mille foglie, in Argentina milhojas, in Canada it is gâteaux Napoléon or Napoleon cake, in Poland it’s known as napoleonka, whatever the name and slight variations, I’m addicted to this pastry.

About a year ago, I sampled an incredible variant of a Napoleon, not only did it not look like the traditional version sold in your local bakery, but its flavor was far better than anything I tasted before. Chef Ehud Ezra, Pastry Chef at Basil Pizza and Wine Bar would not divulge his recipe, so it took me a while to come up with one that would be similar to what I had at the restaurant. While looking for a version that somewhat resembled the one that so inspired me, I came up with some bits of food history that I found fascinating. A few details follow:

In 1651, François Pierre La Varenne described a version in his Le Cuisinier François. This was later improved by Marie-Antoine Carême, who – writing in the early part of the 19th century – described Milles-Feuilles as pastry of ancient origin. The Larousse Gastronomique refers to it as Gâteau Napolitain (Neapolitan Cake), after the Italian city of Napoli rather than after the French emperor.

Chef Udi's original Napoléon...

I could never fully duplicate Chef Udi‘s recipe but here’s my approximation:

On Leah Cooks Kosher I found this recipe for the cream which I adapted by reducing the gelatin about 1/4 teaspoon her original called for:

Ingredients

1 1/4 teaspoon unflavored gelatin powder

4 teaspoons cold water

1 1/2 cup cold heavy whipping cream

2 tablespoon sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Dissolve the gelatin in the water. Set aside.

Whip the heavy cream until is starts to thicken. Slowly add the sugar and beat the cream until it is stiff. We don’t want it too soft but we don’t want it to curdle.

Add the gelatin mixture and beat until combined. Chill for 30 minutes before using.

You can buy frozen puff pastry or, if you are adventurous, make your own; it will certainly taste better!

Puff Pastry

Whisk four and salt in a chilled large metal bowl. Set a grater in flour mixture and coarsely grate frozen margarine into flour, gently lifting flour and tossing to coat butter.

Drizzle 5 tablespoons of ice water evenly over flour mixture and stir gently with a fork until incorporated. Test mixture by gently squeezing a small handful; the dough will not crumble if it has the proper texture. Add another tablespoon if needed stirring until fully incorporated and test again. Remember that if you overwork the dough or add too much water it will be tough.

Form the dough into a 5″ square. It will be lumpy and streaky. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, wrapped in plastic until firm.

Roll out on a floured surface, with a floured rolling pin, into a 15 by 8 inch rectangle. Position dough with a shorter side facing you, fold into thirds (like a brochure): bottom third over center, top down over dough. Rewrap and refrigerate until firm, about another 30 minutes approximately.

Position dough with a short side facing you again, on a well floured surface and roll out again folding and refrigerating two more times. Brush off excess flour wrap again in plastic and refrigerate for an hour and half or longer.

For the Napoleon, thaw the dough (whether your own or store bought) for 30 minutes and cut into 4 fairly equal squares; use a toothpick to make about 3 pricks on each. Preheat oven to 400 F, lower to 350 F and bake the squares on a cookie sheet for approximately 25 to 30 minutes or until puffy and golden brown. Take out, let pastry cool completely and spoon the cream over the first and cover with a second square, spoon cream over it and cover with a third square spooning the cream again. Top it with the fourth piece and sprinkle it with lots of confectioner’s sugar.

Green Tea, originally from China, is making fast inroads in the West where black tea is traditionally consumed. Many scientific studies have been made to determine the truth of its oft claimed health benefits. There seems to be a correlation between regular tea drinking and a lower rate of heart disease and tea may even stimulate fat oxidation, while boosting the metabolic rate by as much as 4% without raising the heart rate.

Why are we posting about green tea, which we’ve mentioned before on these pages? We received quite a few emails asking for a Green Tea Cake recipe, after looking at various posts throughout the blogosphere we settled for this one (it sounds interesting and delicious!). Found it on the Dessert First blog:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a half sheet pan (about 12″x16″) with a sheet of parchment paper or a Silpat.

Combine the eggs with the confectioners’ sugar and ground almonds in a mixer until cream-colored and light.

Add in the matcha powder and combine. You can add more or less depending on your taste, but don’t add more than 1 ½ tsp or it might affect the cake’s texture.

Remove from the mixer. Sift the flour over the egg mixture.

Whip the egg whites in a clean bowl on a mixer at low speed until they start to froth. Then add the cream of tartar and increase mixer speed, whipping until stiff peaks form. Add the sugar and whip for a few seconds longer to incorporate.

Scoop about 1/3 of the egg whites into the egg mixture and fold in gently with a rubber spatula. Add the remaining egg whites and fold in until uniformly mixed. Pour the melted butter over the batter and fold in to incorporate.

Pour the batter into the half sheet pan and distribute it evenly with an offset spatula, making the layer as level and smooth as possible.

Bake in the oven for about 6 to 8 minutes, until the cake is just firm and lightly brown but not completely brown as this cake should not be over-baked.

Remove from the oven and run a knife around the edges of the cake to loosen it. Slide the cake off the sheet pan and onto a wire rack to cool. When the cake is no longer hot but still warm, place another rack or sheet pan on top of the cake and flip it over, then carefully peel the parchment paper from the cake to prevent it from sticking to the cake. You can place the parchment paper clean side down or a clean Silpat onto the cake, then flip it back over to finish cooling.

When you are ready to assemble the cake, trim off the edges and slice the cake in half along the short side, then cut each piece in half along the long side so you get four 6″x8″ pieces.

Whip the cream to soft peaks. Fold in the red beans gently with a rubber spatula until they are evenly distributed; the cream may take on a light reddish tint.

Place cake layer on a covered cake round and frost the top with a quarter of the whipped cream. It’s ok if some of the cream goes over the sides; just try to keep the layer even.

Cover with a cake layer and frost the top with a third of the remaining whipped cream. Repeat until you have assembled all four layers of cake.

Cover the cake and refrigerate overnight.

When you are ready to serve, trim off the sides of the cake to make them nice and even.

I had some dates from Israel and decided to use them in a recipe, I was intrigued by the following one from Elizabeth Wolfe-Cohen‘s Perfect Jewish

Delicious!!!

Date & Nut Bread

Yields: 12 slices

Directions

1 1/2 cups self rising flour, plus a little more for dusting

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 – 1 tsp ground ginger [SYR used 1 tsp]

1 1/3 cups chopped dried dates [SYR did not use dried ones]

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda [baking soda]

2/3 cup boiling water

1 egg lightly beaten

1 tsp butter or margarine, softened [SYR used margarine to keep it pareve]

1 cup chopped walnuts, pecans or almonds [SYR used walnuts]

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Grease a 4″x8″ loaf pan. Line the base and and sides with nonstick baking parchment paper to come to 1″ above the sides. Grease again and dust with flour. Sift the flour, salt and ginger into a bowl.

Put the dates into a large bowl with bicarbonate of soda. Pour over the boiling water and leave to stand for 5 minutes.

Stir the egg and butter [or margarine if you prefer it pareve] and flour mixture into the date mixture and beat with a wooden spoon until well blended. Stir in the nuts. Pour the mixture into the loaf pan, smoothing the top. Tap the pan gently on a surface to expel any air bubbles.

Bake in the center of the oven for 1 hour or until set and well colored and the bread begins to pull away from the sides of the pan; a knife inserted in the center should come out clean.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes , then leave to cool completely Using the paper as a guide, carefully remove the bread from the pan. If not serving the same day keep in the paper to prevent drying out.To serve, remove the paper from the base and sides, slice thinly.

Prep time: 20 minutes – Bake Time – 1 hour

The bread came out very aromatic, it tasted subtly sweet, we had it with some cholov YisroelMascarpone cheese made at Pomegranate Supermarket‘s kitchen and recommended by their resident cheese expert, none other than our good friend Elizabeth Bland. We washed it down with a Herzog Selection Chateneuf2009, a white semi dry with a fresh, fruity bouquet. The bread was delicious, the Mascarpone just right, and the wine proved a perfect pairing!

Mom turns 87 this year, ad meah v’esrim. Her pride and joy revolves around her children, grandchildren, home, and her Hungarian rooted cooking. She was the renowned master balabusta of the neighborhood. When she made a Kiddush, everyone came. Her kugels, kishka, holoptzes, homemade sweet cabbage strudel, rum ball cookies, rum mousse, napoleons, chestnut cakes, oron-golushkas, kokosh, markosh and diosh were devoured in minutes. Her challas stood tall and statuesquely braided.

I still remember how barbaric her scraping walls of the intestines looked, as she prepped them to be stuffed with gelinglach (lung, rice and lots of pepper), and those sweet breads looking like splattered brain matter, before she sautéed them with mushroom and onions, smelling heavenly- later to become one of my personal favorite delicacies. She made Jewish classics like p’tchah and roasts that melted in your mouth, brust-deckle, tzimmes, Hungarian goulash, and chicken paprikash, and homemade pickles, beets and ugorkashalata (cucumber salad). You name it she could make it.

I don’t think she ever looked in a recipe book, she measured by eye and taste and what made innate sense to her. She had an uncanny sense for putting together ingredients be it for cooking or baking. Without knowing the chemistry of why she knew how and her tables were overflowing with amazing dishes. And I honestly can’t remember a time when something didn’t come out right, her consistency was truly remarkable. She used to raise thousands for Hadassah and UJA with her luncheons. I remember being floored when all these fancy clad high falutin American women came pouring into our house for her sit down dinner fund raisers. All cultural barriers disappeared as they sat and enjoyed the never ending multi course meals served on Herendi dishes and those blue or forest floral china with the gold accents that are so popular among the Hungarians. The lively chatter and coming together around delicious food in a homey environment was a fabulous success, each and every time. Her Shabbos and Yom Tov meals were no different. Relatives could call up a few hours before Shabbos to say they were coming, and two hours later between the freezer and adding to fresh dishes already on the stove a feastele was ready.

Mom lost cerebellar function close to twenty five years ago, and though it slowed her down, she found a way to continue cooking. It kept her sane, and proved each day that she was still the balebusta of the house. Nowadays, mom’s still at it. She makes the most delicious aromatic chicken soup; you would smell the parsley and dill welcoming the Shabbos malachim into our home every week. The freezer is till filled with plastic containers filled of her golden elixir, in case anybody gets hungry or needs a refuah.

This year she announced that she’s giving up baking. So this past Purim, I baked mom’s markosh and diosh and brought the loaves down and she prepared plates for her few surviving Hungarian friends and close neighbors. One of the delicacies mom served on Pessachwere her drum cookies. I’ve made a batch in her honor and lovingly share them with you now. I warn you, they are decadent and outrageous.

Drum cookies, addictive, delicious...

Drum Cookies

Yields 24 cookies

Ingredients

6 egg whites, at room temperature

Pinch of cream of tartar (à la Levana) Or use Kosher for Passover baking powder

Ever since this past Kosherfest, we are getting quite a few questions about olive oil. There were a few olive oil producers at the show and apparently people got very interested in their products. Just as we finally thought we’d better blog, explain and demystify olive oil, we came across this superb post by Chef Laura Frankel – who explains it far better than we could – on her blog:

From lauraskosher.com, Chef Laura Frankel's blog

OLIVE OIL 101

Olive oil is the fruit oil obtained from the olive. Commonly used in cooking, cosmetics, soaps and fuel for lamps, olive oil is grown and used throughout the world but especially in the Mediterranean.

Olive oil is produced by grinding or crushing and extracting the oil. A green olive produces bitter oil and an overripe olive produces rancid oil. For great extra virgin olive oil it is essential to have olives that are perfectly ripened.

Purchasing olive oil and knowing how to use it can be confusing. Add to that, the kashrut factor and it is no wonder that consumers and home cooks are bewildered by the array of products on supermarket and specialty market shelves.

Here is a summary of olive oils and their uses:
• Extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) comes from virgin oil production only, contains no more than 0.8% acidity. Extra Virgin olive oil accounts for less than 10% of oil in many producing countries. The superior fruity flavor makes this oil best used for vinaigrettes, drizzling on soups, pastas for added richness and a fruity taste and for dipping breads and vegetables. Extra virgin olive oil does not require hashgacha (even for Pesach) as it is cold pressed.
• Virgin olive oil comes from virgin oil production only, has an acidity less than 2%. This oil is best used for sautéing and for making vinaigrettes. It is generally not as expensive as the extra virgin olive oil but has a good taste. Does require hashgacha.
• Pure olive oil. Oils labeled as Pure olive oil or Olive oil are usually a blend of refined and virgin production oil. This oil is perfect for sautéing. It does not have a strong flavor and can be used for making aiolis and cooking. Does require hasgacha.

Extra virgin olive oil is the highest quality olive oil. It is typically more expensive than other olive oils. Extra virgin olive oil is typically not recommended for high heat cooking. Every oil has a smoke point. A smoke point refers to the heat temperature at which the oil begins to break down and degrade. An oil that is above its smoke point not only has nutritional and flavor degradation but can also reach a flash point where combustion can occur. You can observe this when you have a very hot pan and hot oil and food is added to the pan and it produces a bluish and acrid smelling smoke or worse yet, catches fire.

Extra virgin olive oil has a very low smoke point of 375. I use my best extra virgin olive oil for making vinaigrettes, adding luxurious fruity flavor to pasta dishes, garnishing foods, baking and dipping breads.
Extra virgin olive oil has a long list of health benefits from reducing coronary artery disease and cholesterol regulation.

My favorite extra virgin olive oil is an unfiltered oil from Spain. It is rich, luscious and smells like artichokes and tomatoes. I recently tasted an oil from France that was rich and buttery. Olive oils like wines have a distinct taste or terroir depending upon where they are grown. I urge home cooks to shop the specialty and gourmet shops for their olive oil. The supermarket oils are often lacking in flavor and are frequently misleading in the origin of the olives. The bottle may say that the oil was bottled in Italy but not mention where the olives were grown. The olives could have come from many different countries and in different stages of ripeness which yields an off tasting oil.
Estate grown oils are picked at the perfect stage of ripeness and pressed right after harvest. This ensures a balanced oil that is luscious.

Baking with olive oil is easy and yields a moist delicious cake. I use Meyer lemons in this recipe. Meyer Lemons are a cross between a tangerine and a lemon. They are sweet and very juicy. They are in season now and can be found at most markets around the country.

MEYER LEMON-OLIVE OIL POUND CAKE

1 cup olive oil

2 cups sugar

5 eggs

1 tablespoon Meyer Lemon zest

¼ cup Meyer Lemon juice

¾ cup

3 cups flour

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a tube pan and set aside.

Whisk together olive oil, sugar, eggs and milk.

Gently stir in flour, salt and baking powder until a thick batter forms.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 50-70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Lemon Glaze

3 cups confectioner’s sugar

¼ cup water

¼ cup Meyer lemon juice

2 tablespoons light corn syrup or brown rice syrup

½ teaspoon vanilla bean, scraped

Simply combine all ingredients together in a large and heavy saucepan. Stir constantly over low heat until the mixture reaches 110 degrees F on a candy thermometer.

Pour evenly over cooled cake and allow to harden before serving.

Enjoy the cake recipe and your use of olive oil whether in your salads or anything else.

Recently, I’ve been experimenting with various grains in place of common wheat in breads. I’ve made rye bread many times over the years, but always with some wheat flour in the dough. A couple of weeks ago, I baked a 100% rye bread, which turned out rather flat and very dense and with a nutty, fruity flavor. It was perfect with lox. I have some einkorn flour in the refrigerator awaiting use in the near future. Meanwhile, I’ve been enjoying spelt bread the past few weeks.

Triticum spelta L. (Photo from: plants/usda.gov)

Spelt (triticum spelta L.) – dinkel in German and Yiddish; farro grande in Italian; kusmin in Modern Hebrew — is a hexaploid species of wheat (it has 42 chromosomes), like common wheat. Spelt is a hybrid of emmer (a tetraploid wheat with 28 chromosomes) and a wild goat grass (Aegilops tauschii), possibly occurring north of the Caucasus or in Crimea. The kernels are slightly longer and more pointed than those of wheat, somewhat resembling barley in appearance. Spelt is a hulled grain (spelze in German and farro in Italian), meaning the husk remains attached to the kernel during threshing and requires much pounding and effort to extract the grain. (Common wheat and durum wheat are free-threshing grains in which the hulls easily slip off.) Spelt is also relatively low yielding. However, spelt grows well in poor soil and without the need for pesticides, since, as with most hulled grains, it naturally resists fungus and insects.

It was in Bronze and Iron Age (750-15 BCE) Europe where spelt found its greatest popularity, becoming the predominant wheat species of Germany and Switzerland. The word spelta, believed to be of Saxon origin, was first recorded in 301 CE in an edict of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, the Romans possibly introduced to the grain after expanding the empire northward. Romans, however, preferred common wheat, which they spread through their domains. Ashkenazim mistakenly confused spelt with both the Talmudic shiphon (probably einkorn) and the Biblical kussemet (probably emmer or a generic term for hulled wheat, of which emmer was then the most prominent), as one of the Five Species of grain forbidden on Passover and also requiring the removal of challah. (As a member of the wheat family, spelt is still forbidden on Passover and requires challah removal.) Rashi (Pesachim 35a) translated kusmin into Old French as espelte, which is usually translated as spelt, but may actually mean hulled wheats in general, similar to the German Spelzen and Italian farro. Spelt was not grown in biblical or Talmudic Israel or Egypt and there is no archeological evidence for this grain anywhere in the ancient Near East or Egypt.

Green Kern spelt - Photo from allergome.org

In the late medieval period, as new species of naked wheat became prevalent in central Europe, spelt consequently lost its attractiveness. Nevertheless, spelt remained the predominant grain in southern Germany until the nineteenth century. Still, it retains a degree of popularity in parts of southern Germany and southwestern Poland. Today, spelt’s primary form is husked and kiln-dried, the resulting grains called gruenkern (literally “green kernels”). Harvesting green grains, such as barley for the biblical Omer offering, is an ancient practice devised to collect a small part of a springtime crop while still immature, thereby salvaging at least that portion, in case a heavy storm would potentially damage or rot the entire yield.

Primarily produced in parts of southern Germany and southwestern Poland, gruenkern is rare in America, but found in some specialty food stores. Germans use the greenish-tan kernels in soups, stews, puddings, gruels, breads (mixed with wheat flour), and fritters. Today, many German families, instead of shalet (cholent), slow simmer gruenkernsuppe overnight to commence Sabbath lunch. The first edition of The Settlement Cook Book (1901), the author from a German-Jewish heritage, included a recipe for “Green Kern Soup,” directing “2 qts. soup stock or poultry soup, 1/8 teaspoon pepper, ¼ teaspoon celery, diced, 2 cups green kern, 1 cup Croutons, 2 cups boiling water, 1 teaspoon salt. Wash green kern in cold water, then cook in boiling salted water 2 hours or until tender, add the celery. As water evaporates add soup stock, page 66. If you are making fresh soup take the “top soup” and keep adding it strained to the green kern, until the desired consistency. Season to taste. Serve hot with Croutons, page 81. If you prefer, dry the green kern on back of stove, grind fine and cook until tender in the soup. Just before serving pour on one or two egg yolks well beaten and serve hot with Croutons.”

Spelt is also used in central Europe to make ale, noodles, pancakes, and bread. Spelt contains a lower amount of omega gliadins (proteins) that engender gluten than common wheat and, therefore, can sometimes be tolerated by those with wheat allergies to common wheat, which has been bred to contain a massive amount of gluten. For some, but not all of those who face problems with common wheat (not those with celiac disease), spelt is fine. Otherwise, the fat and amino acid content of common wheat and spelt are similar.

As to my spelt bread, the results were very good. Spelt bread is a bit more crumbly and not quite as high rising as common wheat loaves as well as a light brown hue. But it is still rather fluffy inside, has a crusty exterior, and with a somewhat nutty taste. In many ways, spelt flour can be used similarly to common wheat. However, spelt dough, since its gluten is more fragile and soluble, requires less kneading than common wheat, only 4 to 5 minutes by hand (wheat bread is typically 10 minutes of kneading). Also use less water than in wheat dough (which will weaken the gluten), meaning a firmer dough. However, the dough should not be too dry, or the bread will turn out too dense. I understand that bread machines, which I won’t use anyway, overstress the gluten and produce inferior spelt loaves.

In case you feel like experimenting, here’s my recipe for spelt bread (Dinkelbrot):

On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough until smooth and elastic, 4 to 5 minutes. (Less than wheat flour.) Place in a greased bowl, turning to coat. Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a towel and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 2 hours.

Punch down the dough, knead briefly, divide in half, and form into a ball. Place, seam side down, on a parchment paper-lined or greased large baking sheet or in a greased 8-inch round baking pan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a damp cloth and let rise until nearly doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Position a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (175 C).

With a sharp knife, slit an X in the top. Bake until the bread is golden brown and hollow-sounding when tapped on the bottom, 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool on a rack.

Hanukkah Doughnuts – Sufganiot (Parve)

Sufganiot are deep-fried jelly doughnuts that are traditionally eaten during the Jewish festival of Hanukkah. Sufganiot are especially popular in Israel. The oil used to fry the doughnuts are reminiscent of the oil that miraculously burned, according to the Hanukkah story, in the ancient Temple in Jerusalem.

Ingredients:

25 grams (1 ounce) yeast

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. water

1 Tbsp. flour

3 cups flour

50 grams (1/4 cup) margarine, melted

dash of salt

3 Tablespoons sugar

2 egg yolks

1 1/4 cups water (room temperature)

jelly (strawberry is recommended)

oil for frying (canola is recommended)

powdered sugar

Preparation:

1. To make the dough: Combine the first four ingredients in a bowl. Mix well, cover, and wait until it rises. In another bowl, mix 3 cups of flour with the melted margarine, salt, sugar and egg yolks. Combine the yeast mixture with the flour mixture. Slowly add water while stirring. When batter is smooth, cover the bowl with a towel and let it sit and rise.
2. To make the doughnuts: After the batter has risen, pour it onto a floured surface and roll it out. Use a glass with a small opening to cut out circles of the dough. Place a drop of jelly in the middle of each circle, and then cover with another circle of dough. Make sure that 2 circles attach well to form a closed ball with jelly in the middle. Cover the doughnuts with a towel and let rise.
3. To fry the doughnuts: Heat oil in a deep pot until very hot. Drop the doughnuts into the oil and fry on both sides until brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

TIP: These sufganiot are only good fresh. After you make the dough, only fry a few at a time. Store the rest of the dough in the refrigerator.

Pastry Chef Ehud Ezra, gave us this delicious recipe for yom tov. SYR and I got to taste it yesterday, thus, we can attest to it being truly scrumptious without being overly sweet. One of the joys of this type of post is being in the company of such gifted chefs and bakers. Udi, as his friends and coworkers lovingly nicknamed him, is a warm hearted chemist and chocolate alchemist. He’s got such a mastery of ingredients and technique mixed with a sensitive spirituality that reflects his soul in everything he bakes. His Rosh HaShana recipe for Honeyed Chocolate Lava Cake certainly demonstrates his unique talents as a master pastry chef.

Many people are not big fans of honey cake, but… along comes the incomparable Lévana Kirschenbaum and voilà, she single-handedly changes all their minds! SYR always considered eating honey cake on Rosh Hashana as a “must”, rather than a “want to,” now that she’s tasted Lévana’s moist and flavorful variation on the theme (at her last cooking demo, this past Monday evening), she hasn’t stopped raving about it.

Orange Honey Cake

I actually succeed in turning quite a few people on to my honey cake. Mine is moist and spicy and easy to love; I trust it will make you forget all the indignities of past dried-out and brittle honey cakes. I make it several ways, all scrumptious, but this is one of my favorite. The secret ingredient, orange marmalade, was shared by my dear friend Leah.

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Whisk the first set of ingredients in a bowl.
Mix the second set of ingredients in a second bowl.
Combine both mixtures thoroughly, mixing only until just combined. Pour the batter into a greased tube pan, and bake 1 hour, or a little longer, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.